Killruddery House Gardens

Killruddery is a historic family estate on the southern outskirts of Bray in County Wicklow, about 35 minutes from Dublin, and its 17th-century formal gardens are among the most important in Ireland. They were laid out from 1684, inspired by the French gardens of Versailles, and the house still overlooks a geometric parterre with statues and water features, with the Little Sugar Loaf mountain in the distance.

The great sight is the Long Ponds, a pair of reflecting pools about 550 feet long, inspired by the canals at the Chateau de Courances and once stocked with fish for the house. Beyond them are the Angles, high hedges of hornbeam and lime cut into a pattern of walks, which are one of the best places to understand formal French garden design on a human scale. The Tea Room sits within the Formal Gardens, and from there you can continue into flowering woodland and out towards the farm.

Gardeners will also enjoy the Walled Garden, which is run on organic principles and supplies seasonal produce for the estate's kitchen and farm shop, as well as cut flowers for Killruddery Flowers. The orangery, a large domed conservatory designed by William Burn in the 1850s, is a striking feature of the house. Killruddery Yard, in the 19th-century farmyard, has a farm shop and cafe, a restaurant and a wood-fired pizza shed. Dogs are not permitted in the Formal Gardens, though members can walk dogs on the farm roads. The gardens open seasonally from spring to autumn.